Harriet Wran prison letters tell of regrets after chaotic plunge into addiction led to murder charge
LONELY in an isolated jail cell, Harriet Wran penned a heartfelt letter to a former boyfriend saying she wished she could live in a world where the drug ice didn’t exist.
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LONELY in an isolated jail cell, Harriet Wran penned a heartfelt letter to a former boyfriend saying she wished she could live in a world where the drug ice didn’t exist.
Showing how ferocious her addiction to the drug had become, she wrote to Dennan Chew: “I wish I lived in any time period other than this one, where ice would never have come into my life”.
Sadly for Wran, her epiphany had come too late.
The damage was done and it was a wish that even her family’s famous wealth and political connections couldn’t reverse.
Ice addiction had seen Wran trade down on her privileged eastern suburbs existence, which came as a package deal with being the daughter of the wealthy late premier Neville Wran and his socialite wife Jill Hickson-Wran.
Instead, Harriet had opted to stay at a seedy drug dealer’s house on Oxford St after running away from rehab. She then fell further still to where she sits today, in jail awaiting trial for allegedly murdering a small-time ice dealer at a Redfern slum.
Plagued by a crippling sense of remorse and the clarity that comes with three months of enforced detoxing behind bars, Wran put pen to paper on October 30, 2014.
It was an attempt to apologise to Mr Chew for being “ruthlessly disconnected” and showing him “the side of me that drug addiction brings out”.
The letter also reveals her struggles in jail, including the terrible food, being a “high-profile” inmate, and how she will be haunted “for the rest of my life” by the events that led to her being accused of murder.
Wran and Mr Chew formed a romantic relationship in 2013 when she was in rehab at the Sydney Clinic in Bronte.
Mr Chew, a personal trainer in Sydney’s east, confirmed the pair’s relationship but declined to comment further.
In the letter, Wran also complained about “getting fat” in jail but was “super excited” about the prospect of being allowed to study a degree in ancient history by correspondence while behind bars.
Wran also told Mr Chew that she feared that her realisation about the extent to which drugs had damaged her life had come too late.
“I’ve been clean since I got here, so nearly three months,” she wrote. “It seems I finally received the wake-up call I needed to stop for good.
“I just hope it’s not a 20-year life lesson,” she added, referring to the possible jail term she could receive if found guilty of murder.
Wran was arrested and charged three days after allegedly murdering 48-year-old drug dealer Daniel McNulty on August 10, 2014.
Police claim the former Sydney University student went to McNulty’s apartment in Walker St, Redfern, with Lloyd Edward Haines and Michael Lee, who was her boyfriend of two weeks at the time, to confront him over a botched $70 drug deal.
But the trio allegedly murdered Mr McNulty in an attack with knives and hammers.
The events surrounding Mr McNulty being stabbed to death are set to be explored in the NSW Supreme Court, where the trio are scheduled to stand trial for murder and other charges.
All three have pleaded not guilty.
In the letter, Wran said she had been keen to write to Mr Chew since arriving in jail but hadn’t because “my lawyers were adamant that I have no contact with people I’ve used (drugs) with”.
“I am writing to you now against their advice,” she wrote.
Continuing the letter, Wran said that it was “too dangerous” to discuss the details of her case but said “you know me I could never hurt anyone”.
“It was my mistake of being in the company of such low-life (people) that landed me here,” she wrote.
“I can’t believe I’m in here charged with murder, quite a price to pay for total stupidity.
“What happened that night was really awful and I will be haunted by it for the rest of my life.”
Of her time in jail, Wran wrote: “It’s been a very sad and lonely three months, but a good time for spiritual reflection and growth.
“I’m in isolation in here because of my ‘high-profile’ apparently, which means no contact with other inmates, only myself for company.”
Reflecting on her surroundings, Wran wrote that “jail is pretty much what you’d imagine”.
“A dirty, tiny cell with a waifer-thin (sic) mattress, creepy writing all over the walls and a metal toilet an arm’s length from the bed,” she wrote.
She also complained about the quality of prison food, which “comes through a hole in the door”.
“It’s disgusting but there’s little else to do in here except eat,” she wrote.
The prison officers ranged from those who are “incredibly mean” and “treat you like shit” to others she regarded as “lovely”.
She added: “I think it all depends on your attitude towards them. I’m very polite and obliging.”
To pass the time, Wran said she had been reading “constantly” about ancient history and was “super excited” about applying to study an ancient history degree through Macquarie University from behind bars.
“They’ve agreed to let me do it long distance from jail,” she wrote. “It will help me escape this hell.”
Before apologising to Mr Chew for treating him poorly at the end of their relationship, Wran wrote she was “heartened” when Mrs Hickson-Wran told her he had “booked in” to visit her in jail.
“Though I don’t know if (the visit) was to offer support or to tell me you hate me,” she wrote. “I wouldn’t be surprised if you do and the reason why I’ve wanted to write to you is to tell you I’m sorry, for so much.
“I think about what happened in those last few days that I saw you and the way I ignored your messages afterward.”
She then added: “If I remember clearly I was so wasted the whole time.
“I was horribly bossy and rude as well and you saw the side of me that drug addiction brings out.
“You were going through a tough time it seemed and I was more concerned with being ruthlessly disconnected.”
She was “really pleased” to hear that Mr Chew had “cut everyone off” from his former life and hoped “that it is still the case”.
“They are a bunch of people rotting from the inside out who are not your friends, no matter what they say,” she wrote.
After asking Mr Chew not to “judge my grammar and eloquence”, Wran ended the letter by asking Mr Chew to “do some extra hill sprints for me” explaining that “I’m getting fat in here”.
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